Berkley police sued for wrongful death; former GM building target of ADA suit

Among recently filed Michigan lawsuits:

• The family of Lisa Kindl has filed a wrongful death suit against the Berkley Police, on allegations that Kindl slipped into convulsions in her cell at the city police lockup and died of alcohol withdrawal.

The Detroit News reports that the 47-year-old, who was known to the court system and police as a “chronic serious alcoholic,” repeatedly asked officers for help during her July 2010 holding.

The suit alleges that 15 officers, including the police chief, may have had similar knowledge of her medical needs, and she was denied proper emergency medical care for hours despite complaints to officers.

The lawsuit was filed July 9 in Oakland County Circuit Court by Southfield attorney Mark Boegehold, and assigned to Judge Daniel O’Brien.

• Richard Bernstein of The Sam Bernstein Law Firm in Farmington Hills is asking that the former General Motors Corp. headquarters be renovated to comply with American with Disabilities Act standards.

According to MLive, his client, Jill Babcock, who works for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, moved into the building in October. She said that, while some adjustments have been to accommodate her wheelchair, such as the addition of a button-operated bathroom stall, not nearly enough has been done for disabled access building-wide.

The suit was filed July 10 at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

• Flint attorney Tom Pabst is contending that Brian Fairchild, former police sergeant for Flushing Township, was fired for retaliatory reasons because of his involvement in a campaign to oust trustees from office.

MLive says that Fairchild claims his rights under the Whistleblower Protection Act were violated, because he actively participating in a recall campaign against trustees Michael Gardner and Bill Noecker, who are named as defendants. The township, its Supervisor Terry Peck, and trustees Scott Minaudo and Mark Purkey also are named.

Peck contends that Fairchild’s termination was for budgetary reasons.

The suit was filed in Genesee County Circuit Court and assigned to Judge Geoffrey Neithercut.

Ex-partner suing Fieger Law for professional misconduct, ‘intolerable behavior’

It’s been a year since Ven Johnson’s high-profile split from Geoffrey Fieger’s eponymous law firm. And according to a recently filed lawsuit in Oakland County, he has some unfinished business.

The Detroit News reports that Johnson’s suit, which was filed last week and assigned to Judge Wendy Potts, alleges that professional misconduct, violation of state business law, and Fieger’s demeanor caused him to quit.

In the complaint, Johnson wrote that “[t]he combination of intolerable behavior, broken promises and false representations, the mistreatment of clients, ethically questionable edicts, the loss of experienced trial attorneys, the failure to provide corporate books, records and accounts, as well as other actions … resulted in a deterioration of the business and compelled” his resignation.

Michigan Lawyers Weekly reported last year that Fieger put new policies into place at his firm, including a requirement that trial lawyers keep a caseload of 30 cases at all times. In addition, if three cases didn’t go to trial every year, the lawyer on that case would face having to pay a $25,000 fine. Eleven attorneys have since left.

“The reason Fieger Law has survived for this long, and the reason Geoffrey Fieger is still in business, is because of the high demands I put on these lawyers,” he told Lawyers Weekly at the time.

In Johnson’s complaint, he wrote that such a stipulation “was onerous, unprecedented and of questionable ethics, given that clients, rather than lawyers, have the sole right to determine whether they wish to accept a settlement or proceed to trial.”

The News noted that Johnson alleged he has suffered “significant and irreparable harm to his ongoing law practice” as a result of Fieger’s actions and behavior. Johnson is seeking compensatory damages, claiming he was cheated of compensation, including a percentage of wages and settlements reached by the firm, and he also seeks full accounting of the law firm’s books from 2001 to 2011.

UPDATE: In response to the suit, Fieger told Lawyers Weekly that Johnson “must be in financial trouble,” and that his tactical skills “are second only to Charlie Sheen. … He jumped off a cliff and now he regrets it.” Fieger said that he believes the case will be dismissed, “and then you won’t write another thing about it, because you won’t be interested in hearing the liar, only in the ridiculous claims he made.”

High court reappoints two Oakland judges

Two Oakland County judges were recently reappointed to two-year terms for their benches by the Michigan Supreme Court.

Hon. Nanci J. Grant was reappointed chief judge of the circuit court in for a two-year term effective Jan. 1, 2012, as her first term as chief judge nears an end. She was the youngest woman ever elected to a Michigan circuit court when she won the circuit bench in 1996.

Grant was president of the Michigan Judges Association in 2006, and is vice chair of the Judicial Tenure Commission.

Also, Hon. Linda Hallmark was given another term as chief judge for the Oakland Probate Court, effective Jan. 1, 2012.

First appointed to the probate bench in December 1997, she was named chief judge of the probate court in 2000 and served two consecutive two-year terms. She also was presiding judge of the circuit court’s family division from 2000-04.

Hallmark serves on the executive committee of the Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, in addition to the executive board of Michigan Inter-Professional Association and the Michigan Family Court Forum.

E-filing expanded in Oakland County courts

The e-filing pilot project in Oakland County Family Court has been expanded to include divorce cases where the parties have minor children.

The Michigan Supreme Court, in Administrative Order 2010-3, Revised E-filing Pilot Project in Oakland Circuit Court, Family Division, has authorized, effective immediately, e-filing for all cases coded “DM” (divorce with minor children):

Recognizing the logistical challenges associated with implementing e-filing in “DM” cases, the Court authorizes the Family Division of the Sixth Circuit Court to gradually implement the pilot beginning with a limited number of cases assigned to a single judge and a single Friend of the Court referee team assigned to that judge. The Sixth Circuit Court may expand the scope of the pilot at any time to include additional judges and/or FOC referee teams without further authorization of the Court.

In addition, the MSC has revised and extended the time for the pilot e-filing project for the Oakland County Circuit Court. See, Administrative Order 2007-3, Revised E-filing Pilot Project in Oakland County.

The Court has also ordered a pilot e-filing project for the Oakland County Probate Court. See, Administrative Order No. 2011-6, Proposed E-filing Project in Oakland Probate Court, for details.

Oakland judge warned after jailing prospective juror

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A judge ordered a stay-at-home mom to sit through a murder trial and serve 24 hours in jail after she arrived an hour late for jury selection because she couldn’t find a baby sitter.

State officials intervened, and Carmela Khury was released at noon Monday after a day and a half as a spectator in Oakland County Circuit Judge Leo Bowman’s courtroom. He was told to drop the order or face sanctions.

“It was very upsetting,” Khury, 37, told The Detroit Free Press.

Bowman declined to comment through his staff in suburban Detroit.
Khury appeared in court an hour late last Thursday accompanied by her two children, an 8-month-old and a 3-year-old. She said her husband was working, her mother was having oral surgery, and she hadn’t been able to find an alternative sitter.

Bowman dismissed Khury from the jury pool but ordered her to return Friday and watch the trial, and told her she would have to serve 24 hours in jail at the end of the case.

“When you appear, don’t bring your children here. Do you understand that? … You have 24 hours to make arrangements,” the judge said.
Khury’s mother, recovering from oral surgery, watched the children while she attended the trial.

The State Court Administrative Office faxed a letter to Bowman telling him he had no authority to punish Khury. The Free Press said the agency also stepped in last year after complaints about the judge’s treatment of jurors.

A legal expert said Khury’s rights had been violated.

“When you are imposing punishment, and that’s what jail is, it becomes criminal contempt,” said Peter Henning, a professor at Wayne State University’s law school. “She’s entitled to due process, a hearing
and an attorney.”